Nicole Nelson from The Voice's Team Adam performed with her partner guitarist Dwight Ritcher at the Rockwood Music Hall in New York City recently. Nelson received a four chair turn around by The Voice coaches during the blind auditions for her rendition of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah. Adam Levine gave her a standing ovation. Hoping to be on Blake Shelton's team, Nicole Nelson made an on-the-spot decision to go with Adam. Despite great performances, Adam reluctantly sent Nelson home after the knockout rounds.
Nicole Nelson is one half of the blues duo Dwight & Nicole. The duo took the stage at Rockwood Music Hall in front of a crowd of fans. Although Dwight & Nicole deserve a larger audience, this small club suited their musical style. The audience was transported in time to a juke joint on the Mississippi Delta with songs such as Johnny Gets High from Dwight & Nicole's album !Signs. Nicole Nelson delivered vocals with the emotion of a church sermon. Fittingly, Nelson ended the set with Hallelujah. The noisy club literally went silent. Only the sound of Nelson's voice and Ritcher's guitar could be heard. Nelson made her blind audition seem mediocre. What the audiences saw of Nicole Nelson on The Voice was merely a drop of her talent.
The show also featured other artists from The Voice, De'Borah from Christina Aguilera's team and Suzanna Choffel from Team Blake. De'Borah played a combination of covers she sang on The Voice and originals. It's no surprise that Maroon 5 is one of her influences. Her mix of rock, soul and pop would have made her a perfect member of Team Adam. As strong as De'Borah's voice is, the emotional connection she makes with the songs and the audience is what makes her performances memorable. Confident and relaxed on stage, De'Borah seemed genuinely shocked as audience members swarmed her after her set.
Before singing a song, Suzanna Choffel acknowledged the difficulty of being the follow up to De'Borah. Choffel rose to the challenge. With guitar in hand, Choffel blasted through songs from her albums Steady Eye Shaky Bow and Shudders & Rings. Her sound is described as jazzy, soulful and pop but live she has the energy of a rocker chick. This seemed a far cry from the music teacher that appeared on The Voice. Although her vocal talent was clear, she definitely left The Voice to soon for the audience to get a taste of her full musical talent.
Singer Ali Wadsworth opened the show. Wadsworth auditioned for The Voice with her sister and didn't make it on a team. Wadsworth's bluesy performance made it clear The Voice judges had made a mistake by not turning their chairs.
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